Maintenance is the process of ensuring that buildings and structures retain a good appearance and operate at optimum efficiency. Inadequate maintenance can result in decay, degradation and reduced performance and can affect health and threaten the safety of users, occupants and others in the vicinity. Building structure, and roofs in particular, are regularly subjected to harsh conditions including wind, rain, snow, heat, cold, and storms. Said conditions can cause damage to the roof, as well as the interior of the structure. For these reasons, roofs require regular maintenance to maintain optimum efficiency and continue to accomplish their design goals.
When roofs suffer significant damage, however, significant construction or refurbishing services may be necessary. This may require a long period of time to accomplish, as contractors must be found and assigned to the job, permits must be obtained, and money must be allocated and transferred. During this period time, the roof cannot be left unattended, as the roof the contents of the structure may suffer further damage. In these situations, therefore, temporary remedial or protective measures are necessary.
Various approaches to this problem have been proposed. A well-known approach to this problem is to attach a temporary water-impermeable membrane to the exterior of the roof to prevent water from penetrating the roof while it remains damaged, also known as the blue tarp method. These approaches, however, are difficult and time-consuming to implement. The current approaches to the problem of applying a temporary membrane to a damaged roof do not address the issue of properly fitting the membrane to the roof size and shape. The current approaches also do not address the issue of fastening the ends or the perimeter of the membrane to the roof. Improper fitting of the membrane to the size and shape of the roof can result in a membrane that can be removed by strong winds or permit water to enter in between the membrane and the roof. Additionally, improper fastening of the ends, or perimeter of, the membrane, can result in a membrane that is too easily removed and allows water penetration. For these reasons, the current approaches to the problem of applying a temporary membrane to a damaged roof are inadequate.
Additionally, the current approaches to the problem of applying a temporary membrane to a damaged roof, including the blue tarp method, add holes to the top of the roof, which can cause further water leakage into the structure, and only last for up to 90 days. In fact, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, even categorizes the blue tarp method as only a 30-day solution. Therefore, the current approaches to the problem of applying a temporary membrane to a damaged roof are temporary at best.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above, and particularly for a more efficient way of applying temporary remedial or protective measures onto a damaged roof.